i can at this moment he was here earlier this morning. i can tell you that members of the president's team are continuing to work on this issue, as are members of congress' team and the congressional leader's team. it does not, i think, make a lot of sense to simply say never mind, the american people and business leaders and small business leaders and civic leaders and labor leaders, you know, cut them out of the process and stop the conversation. the president thinks that's a big mistake. >> [inaudible] wouldn't it suggest to people and the markets that the president meeting with congressional leader, that would be ar signal that washington can function? >> the signal that washington can function is the result. only inside the beltway do people think that sitting in a room for photo spray will solve necessarily problems. the work has to be done and that work is being done and everybody needs to, as the president said, agree to the principle, that compromise will require tough choices by each side. and the president's willing to do that